


Sometimes, breaks are inevitable

by orphan_account



Category: Undertale
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 19:20:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8765779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Gaster was a punctual man, no matter the occasion. Rain or shine, storms or clear, he would be on time without fail. Except this time. Today would be the first day in history that Gaster would be late for anything. In his defense, however, the circumstances were horrendous.





	

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @sansytheskeleton for proofreading

Gaster was a punctual man, no matter the occasion. Rain or shine, storms or clear, he would be on time without fail. Except this time. Today would be the first day in history that Gaster would be late for anything. In his defense, however, the circumstances were horrendous. 

The scarred skeleton was now found striding briskly from his hotland lab with his coat spotted with stains of varying oranges, blues, and purples. Any monster he passed didn't dare stop to stare, fearing the temper of the royal scientist. Gaster kept a firm scowl plastered to his features the entire trip throughout the rest of hotland and the core until he was finally stopped by one of the few monsters in the entire underground with enough spunk to stand up to his foul demeanor. 

"Where are you going in such a rush, dear?" Muffet called out to his retreating form. "Surely you're not a cheapskate who wouldn't donate to a poor spider's cause." 

Gaster kept silent and continued walking, knowing that when he went into his rare funk, the words came too fast and too harsh to be anything but cruel. It was enough to get him into trouble with anyone. 

Muffet wasn't having it though. "Where do you think you're going, with that pocket full of gold?" 

Dammit. Since when did spiders have ears? "I'm sorry but I'm afraid I can't donate since this money is for the king." Gaster replied, glancing back for only a second only to walk straight into one of her webs. This weak insect was seriously testing his patience. 

"Surely  _that much_ _gold_ can't go  _straight_ to the king alone," Muffet said slowly, "some of it  _must_ be yours, unless you plan on leaving hotland forever, which I highly doubt that a man like you would do such a thing." 

"Are you implying something?"

The spider woman rolled her many eyes, "Oh nothing, Dr. Gaster. It's just that I couldn't help but notice all the gold that's been being sent to the research going on in that lab of yours. But what happens to it? You haven't had any breakthrough in... how long?"

"...Eighteen years." Gaster struggled against his binds in frustration. 

"Then-"

"But those long years have come to an end!" Gaster interrupted, his dam shattering. "We think we've finally found a way to break the barrier, but a few  _problems_ have occurred, and that's why I need to see the king immediately, but here you are wasting all my damn time with your beggar antics!" There's that temper flare again.

Muffet seemed genuinely surprised, but barely for a moment. "Fine then. See what breaking the barrier will do for you while spiders die from the cold. And if I ever see you come through here again..." The spider woman leaned in close, her eyes going cold. "I might just try out a new recipe that calls for dust!" 

Gaster pulled himself free from his silky prison and brushed himself off without success. He turned and watched Muffet organize some of her pastries before she abruptly picked up a knife he hadn't noticed and waved it at him cheerily. He would never understand that spider. One moment she was happily selling pastries and the next she was chasing away potential customers like she was the most famous chef in all of the underground. 

Gaster shook it off and proceeded through monster kind's prison until he came to the king and queen's doors. He briskly knocked twice, bouncing on the soles of his shoes until the looming purple doors creaked open, and a kind, bearded face appeared. 

"Oh, why hello there Dr. Gaster." Asgore caught sight of the tattered coat and drifting web. "Is something wrong? You seem to be having a bad day." 

A distant "Would you like some pie?" could be heard, presumably Toriel from the kitchen. 

"Actually, I have some stupendous news for you, my king." Gaster couldn't keep the energized grin from his face. Eighteen years. After eighteen years, they were finally on to something. "I would prefer to talk in private about our discovery, and I can't help but feel that you'll be impressed." 

Asgore gave a surprised smile before guiding the harassed skeleton inside, and straight to the kitchen where a cup of tea was practically forced into his hands. "Whatever you say to me, you can say to my wife. We rule together after all." Asgore said softly. 

Gaster nodded excitedly, already pacing the room despite holding a very full cup of tea. "Well, after eighteen years of not a single report of good news, you'll be happy to know that we may have come up with a solution that not even I could have thought of on my own.

"It was actually my co worker Benja that- well... should I say her daughter? No matter. Benja's daughter, Kayla, had been playing with the leftover boxes from the family's recent move. The father, Weston, decided to surround Kayla with the boxes, simply just to see what she would do. Nothing but a simple parent playing with their child. But Benja had seen the similarities between her daughter and all of monster kind in a simple game between father and daughter." Gaster clasped his hands together in a desperate act of calmness. "Instead of ripping through the box, or crushing it, Kayla grabbed onto a nearby couch arm rest to pull herself  _over_ the wall."

"What is it you're trying to say, Dr. Gaster?" Asgore pressed impatiently. 

The skeleton threw his arms wide with a giddy grin, "What if we didn't  _break_ the barrier, but went  _around_ it?"

Toriel's face would've paled if not for her thick fur. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Gaster said. "After years on end of failure, we have created a sort of  _portal_ that, if works correctly, should teleport monsters on the other side of the barrier! There's a problem though." 

"And what would that be?" Asgore asked, clasping his hands and leaning on the table while the wood gave a groan of protest. 

"We can't get a power source great enough to power the portal. But after an... accident and a few tests, we have found a way around that. We're so close I can practically feel the sun already. 

"All we need is  _one more_ component before we can start working out the final bugs!" 

"Out with it then!" Asgore pressed, his usually kind face finally chipping away. "What is it? What do we need to escape from this prison?"

Gaster tipped the weighted bag of glittering gold onto the table, not even blinking as it flew everywhere, from the table to the floor and rolling away into the crevices of the universe. "There's a certain plant that we've learned of in human books, that seems to be just the solution we've been looking for." The coins finally ceased their noise and settled ominously on the floor of the king and queen themselves. "To monsters, however, it doesn't exist yet. I, along with the rest of the researchers have been scouring waterfall for any signs of this plant, but every last one of us has come up dry. That's why I'd like to organize a team to search more thoroughly than any desperate scientists.

"So then, my king." Gaster extended a skeletal hand toward the bearded goat. "What say you?"


End file.
